Sunday, May 31, 2015

Top Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Herbs, and Spices

By Dr. Mercola

Herbs and cooking spices contain a wide variety of antioxidants,
minerals and vitamins, and help maximize the nutrient density of your
meals. Every time you flavor your meals with herbs or spices you are
literally "upgrading" your food without adding a single calorie.

In fact, on a per gram fresh weight basis, herbs rank even higher in
antioxidant activity than fruits and vegetables, which are known to be
high in antioxidants. Many studies have also shown that most spices tend
to have unique medicinal qualities.

In the featured study,1
researchers from three Universities devised an experiment to evaluate
the “true world” benefits of herbs and spices, by feeding them to people
in quantities that are typically consumed simply by spicing up your
meals. As noted by Dr. Michael Greger MD, who produced the video above:2

“The researchers could have taken the easy route and just measured
the change in antioxidant level in one’s bloodstream before and after
consumption, but the assumption that the appearance of antioxidant
activity in the blood is an indication of bioavailability has a
weakness. Maybe more gets absorbed than we think but doesn’t show up on
antioxidant tests because it gets bound up to proteins or cells. So the
researchers attempted to measure physiological changes in the blood. They were interested in whether absorbed compounds would be able
to protect white blood cells from an oxidative or inflammatory
injury—whether herb and spice consumption would protect the strands of
our DNA from breaking when attacked by free radicals.”

Four Spices That Pack a Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Punch

For one week, 10 to 12 subjects in each of 13 groups consumed a small
amount of a particular spice each day. For example, those in the
oregano group ate just half a teaspoon of oregano daily for seven days.
Blood samples were drawn one hour prior to consumption, and at the very
end of the experiment.

The participants’ blood was then analyzed for antioxidant capacity.
The researchers also analyzed how well the blood could dampen an induced
inflammatory response in white blood cells.

This was done by placing the participants’ blood onto white blood
cells that had been damaged by oxidized cholesterol (commonly found in
fried foods). Even at the “everyday” dosage amounts given, four spices
were found to be significantly effective at quelling the inflammatory
response:

As noted in the featured article: “[T]he results represents what
might happen when cells in our body are exposed to the levels of spices
that circulate in our bloodstream after normal daily consumption—not
megadoses in some pill. Just the amount that makes our spaghetti sauce,
pumpkin pie, or curry sauce taste good.”

Other Potent Anti-Inflammatory Spices

An earlier study published in the Journal of Medicinal Foods3
found a direct correlation between the antioxidant phenol content of
spice and herb extracts and their ability to inhibit glycation and block
the formation of AGE compounds (advanced glycation end products),
making them potent preventers of heart disease and premature aging.

Here, cloves were ranked as the most potent of 24 common herbs and
spices found in your spice rack. In all, the following were found to be
the top 10 most potent anti-inflammatory herbs and spices:

Cloves

Cinnamon

Jamaican allspice

Apple pie spice mixture

Oregano

Pumpkin pie spice mixture

Marjoram

Sage

Thyme

Gourmet Italian spice

Inflammation Is at the Heart of Most Chronic Diseases

It’s important to realize that chronic inflammation is the source of
many if not most diseases, including cancer, obesity, and heart disease,
which essentially makes it the leading cause of death in the US.

While inflammation is a perfectly normal and beneficial process that
occurs when your body's white blood cells and chemicals protect you from
foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses, it leads to trouble when
the inflammatory response gets out of hand. Your diet has a lot to do
with this chain of events.

While among the most potent, ounce for ounce, herbs and spices are
certainly not the only anti-inflammatory ingredients available. A number
of foods are well-known for their anti-inflammatory properties, and
making sure you’re eating a wide variety of them on a regular basis can
go a long way toward preventing chronic illness.

Top Seven Anti-Inflammatory Foods

The following foods and nutrients deserve special mention for their ability to quell inflammatory responses in your body:

1. Animal-based omega-3 fat

Animal-based omega-3 fats—found in fatty fish like wild Alaskan salmon and fish- or krill oil—help fight inflammation throughout your body. It’s particularly important for brain health. Research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology4 in 2012 confirmed that dietary supplementation with krill oil effectively reduced inflammation and oxidative stress.

2. Leafy greens

Dark leafy greens such as kale,
spinach, collard greens and Swiss chard contain powerful antioxidants,
flavonoids, carotenoids, and vitamin C—all of which help protect against
cellular damage. Ideally, opt for organic locally grown veggies that
are in season, and consider eating a fair amount of them raw. Juicing is an excellent way to get more greens into your diet.

3. Blueberries

Blueberries rate very high in
antioxidant capacity compared to other fruits and vegetables. They are
also lower in sugar than many other fruits.

4. Tea

Matcha tea is the most nutrient-rich green tea
and comes in the form of a stone-ground unfermented powder. The best
Matcha comes from Japan and has up to 17 times the antioxidants of wild
blueberries, and seven times more than dark chocolate.

Tulsi is another tea loaded with anti-inflammatory antioxidants and
other micronutrients that support immune function and heart health.

5. Fermented vegetables and traditionally cultured foods

Optimizing your gut flora is important for a well-functioning
immune system, and helps ward off chronic inflammation. In fact, the
majority of inflammatory diseases start in your gut, as the result of an
imbalanced microbiome. Fermented foods such as kefir, natto, kimchee, miso, tempeh, pickles, sauerkraut, olives, and other fermented vegetables, will help ‘reseed’ your gut with beneficial bacteria.

Fermented foods can also help your body rid itself of harmful toxins such as heavy metals and pesticides that promote inflammation.

6. Shiitake mushrooms

Shiitake mushrooms
contain strong compounds with the natural ability to discourage
inflammation, such as Ergothioneine, which inhibits oxidative stress.

They also contain a number of unique nutrients that many do not get
enough of in their diet. One is copper, which is one of the few metallic
elements accompanied by amino and fatty acids that are essential to
human health. Since your body can't synthesize copper, your diet must
supply it regularly. Copper deficiency can be a factor in the
development of coronary heart disease.

7. Garlic

Garlic has been treasured for its medicinal properties for
centuries. It’s also one of the most heavily researched plant foods
around. Over 170 studies5
show it benefitting more than 150 different conditions. Garlic exerts
its benefits on multiple levels, offering anti-bacterial, anti-viral,
anti-fungal, and antioxidant properties.

It's thought that much of garlic's therapeutic effect comes from its sulfur-containing compounds, such as allicin. Research6
has revealed that as allicin digests in your body it produces sulfenic
acid, a compound that reacts faster with dangerous free radicals than
any other known compound.

Your Diet Is Key for Reducing Chronic Inflammation

The running thread linking a wide variety of common health problems—from obesity and diabetes to heart disease and cancer—is chronic inflammation.
The key to reducing chronic inflammation in your body starts with your
diet, and being liberal in your use of high-quality herbs and spices is
one simple way to boost the quality of your food. They're an inexpensive
"secret weapon" that just about everyone can take advantage of. Spicing
up your meals is not enough, however, if processed foods comprise the
bulk of your diet.

It's important to realize that dietary components can either prevent or trigger inflammation
from taking root in your body, and processed foods do the latter,
courtesy of pro-inflammatory ingredients like high fructose corn syrup,
soy, processed vegetable oils (trans fats), and other chemical
additives. Besides adding anti-inflammatory foods to your diet, you’ll
also want to avoid the following pro-inflammatory dietary culprits as
much as possible:

Refined sugar, processed fructose,
and grains. If your fasting insulin level is three or above, consider
dramatically reducing or eliminating grains and sugars until you
optimize your insulin level, as insulin resistance this is a primary
driver of chronic inflammation. As a general guideline, I recommend
restricting your total fructose intake to 25 grams per day. If you’re
insulin or leptin resistant (have high blood pressure, high cholesterol,
heart disease, or are overweight), consider cutting that down to 15
grams per day until your insulin/leptin resistance has normalized

Oxidized cholesterol (cholesterol that has gone rancid, such as that from overcooked, scrambled eggs)

Foods cooked at high temperatures, especially if cooked with vegetable oil (such as peanut, corn, and soy oil)

Replacing processed foods with whole, ideally organic foods will
automatically address most of these factors, especially if you eat a
large portion of your food raw. Equally important is making sure you’re
regularly reseeding your gut with beneficial bacteria, as mentioned
above. To help you get started on a healthier diet, I suggest following
my free Optimized Nutrition Plan, which starts at the beginner phase and systematically guides you step-by-step to the advanced level.